Marcos García Zaso

Financial management for projects around Latin America (Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, El Salvador, Colombia, Dominican Republic). / USAID and PEPFAR

• Responsible for creating, reviewing, and processing program budgets/forecasts for assigned countries where a Finance Director is not available.
• Review all budget modifications LAC countries on awards (Mod increasing the ceiling by less than $12M). Ensure award trackers are up to date and work with the grants manager to review execution, invoicing delays, etc.
• Review project award/contract documents and modifications prior submission to the donor. Also review/approve quarterly deliverables SFRs, Cost Share, Cost Category reports, VAT reports, Pipeline reports, etc, prior submission to the donor.
• Review and Co-Lead (With the project Finance Lead) the monthly pipeline meeting to present the financial status/projection and LOE used for each project to its respective stakeholders: Programmatic, financial, operational, and technical teams.
• Review the revenue generated by each project across LAC, against the revenue projection, flag any red flags in the pipeline meeting.
• Work with the program team and internal compliance team on closing audit observations. Interpret and apply laws, analyze information, and evaluate the impact of policies, procedures, and practices.
• Work includes accumulating data, summarizing information into presentable reports/forms, and discerning valid from invalid data comparisons. Interpret and seek explanation for variations in the data.
• Review and input financial data and final cost objectives, account information into accounting software systems.
• Train all new Finance and Accounting leads in the different systems, processes and internal guidelines
• Responsible for interpreting, analyzing and/or evaluating data, ensure compliance with applicable state and federal statutes, and use of Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures (GAAP).
• Experience using systems to produce reports, financial models, and databases.
• Superior ability to communicate clearly in both oral and written form.
• Serve as an approver for purchase requests, modifications, severance payout from HQ side.

Accounting management and support for projects around Latin America (Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, El Salvador, Colombia, Dominican Republic) / USAID and PEPFAR

• Review existing procedures surrounding country office month end processes and make recommendations as needed, respond to inquiries, and assist in trainings for country office staff.
• Troubleshoot field accounting questions, operational accounting related queries and provide timely solutions to the country offices.
• Advise and assist country offices with monthly close, labor allocation and bank account reconciliation tasks. Serve as reviewer/approver for the monthly reconciliations.
• Support country offices with year-end audit requests.
• Monitor and analyze accounting team performance as it relates to the monthly close process, to develop more efficient procedures and use of available resources.
• Ensure that country office accounting business practices are adequate, documented, and compliant with internal and external requirements.
• Provide support for country programs by conducting live and virtual trainings on accounting systems and processes. Provide guidance, mentoring to staff as needed.
• Apply accounting principles and practices to a limited range of accounting, budgeting, forecasting, cost accounting and/or other fiscal functions.
• Resolve accounting, tax and/or legal requirements in foreign jurisdictions.

• Responsible of the budget formulation, execution, and monitoring for several State agencies. Coordination of all financial activities and accounting records. Funds allocation and realignment as needed, based on trends and historical expense, to operate according to Budget targets creating strategies to decrease operation costs.

• Provided accounting tracking, accounting solutions and services for assigned agencies (USAID, PEPFAR, APHIS, RSO, DEA).

• Examine and audit documents before processing payments for: grants, purchase orders, travel allowances, official expenses, taxes, reimbursements, payroll, lease contracts, utilities invoices and other documents
• Ensure payment requests were legal, correct, and proper; and comply with USG regulations for payment
• Service was provided for US government agencies such as INL, DEA, USAID, ICE, etc
• Main point of contact for assisting vendors and providers in resolving issues with payments, issue VAT exemption forms
• Cashier activities (cash flow, reconciliation, petty cash etc.)

• Delegate for Guatemala to work together with the Revenue, Finance and Marketing teams in the USA to ensure costs were executed within the budgeted plans
• Helped to analyze financial and marketing trends, to create yearly strategies
• Regional position, covering NA, UK, AUS and Mexico
• High knowledge and attention to detail required, as I handled financial information for the company's high valued partners and clients
• Follow up on small and major issues to provide solutions that would strengthen business relations both ways
• Invoicing, collections, refunds, over payments, trip vouchers, ticketing and reconciliation.

• Actively participated in the transition of business operations from Canada to Guatemala
• Responsible of creating programs, procedures, project development and implementation, had seventeen subordinates, responsible of their KPI`s and CPI`s
• Client facing and handling
• Close monitoring of monthly results to ensure goals were met quarterly.